Weekend Off; Training through Injuries.

Training for my race in May has been going extremely well up until yesterday. Unfortunately it would seem that the tight IT band (Iliotibial Bands) problem I had during my solo adventure race, 3 years ago, has returned with a vengeance. Yesterday was my 13KM long run for the week which afterwards I stretched and didn’t seem to have any issues. Knowing this area was prone to inflammation and tightness I iced immediately when I got home. But overnight the pain would come.

Although this is not good news it does not mean that it’s over, call it quits, and throw in the towel and quit running. No it merely means that taking care of discomfort or pain before it becomes and injury is key.

RICE. I know it has been around as long as dirt, but it has been around because it holds true and can be used for all post activity aches and pains for at least the first 48 hours. Keynote before I go further, if you feel pain or soreness from physical activity, be sure that you know your body well enough to decipher between injury and short-term soreness. After many years of training and knowing exactly how my body functions on all levels, I know exactly what I need to do. But if you are a beginner or unsure be safe and go see the Doc if it feels severe just incase.

Ok so the idea to proper injury prevention and/ recovery is actually rather simple but a lot of us don’t do it. It is those little inconveniences that if we do them will save us a great deal of pain and avoid setbacks in the future.

Proper stretching and warm up are crucial. But most of us get in a bad habit of not doing this as we feel rushed b/c of work or getting home to the kids or spouse etc. If we maintain these simple steps they can help with the removal of lactic acid and keeps joints limber and loose. In addition pre and post workout meals are critical to optimal performance and recovery. For example here is a speciic recipe from the Vanilla Bean Cafe, a site that provides many other healthy meal ideas.

Ice is as important as rest and stretching. For the first 48 hours ice should be applied to the injured area for 20mins every 3 hours. It makes a world of difference. Ice reduces inflammation enabling the removal of toxins allowing for the flow of oxygenated blood to repair the injured area. When doing a great deal of strenuous activity, and/or training, keep several ice packs at home and one at work. Co-workers will look at you hobbling around with an ice pack wrapped to a part of your body and think you are odd but it is completely worth it.

With my specific issue I will ice for the first few days, as always, and then would normally call my masseuse, Devon I highly recommend her she is amazing. It is not your relaxing type of massage, it is a sport therapy massage that entails force and pressure that, during, feels extremely painful but the results are fantastic. Alas I will not be going to Devon as this injury is getting critical. So I will be visiting Tracy’s chiropractor. The doctor has worked on Tracy’s injuries for roughly 2 years with phenomenal results. I was always skeptical of chiros but with Tracy’s, she is highly professional and an advanced athlete who competes in Ironman races -very respectable.

For the rest of the weekend; RIB, rest, ice, and beer as I begin my backcountry ski conversion. I am essentially removing the old bindings from my old alpine skis and putting them on a pair of backcountry Hagan skis that I scored for free when a friend left the country. Once I get into it I will update how it goes and explain how it can be done. This way next season I will have the ability to hike up the mountain ski in the backcountry with no one around and not have to pay greedy ski hill lift ticket prices.